Kategorie: Blog

Took me long this time to write another post but I was handicapped and couldn`t use my right hand.

What happened…. something bit me in my hand, some sort of Insect but we did not find out what ist was. Happened on a Monday morning, on Tuesday morning I was in the hospital with a hand like “HellBoy” and, as the doctors told me “close to Heavens door”. Anyway, they cut down my wedding ring and put me 3 days on hard medication to survive the blood poisoning…..Took me another week to use my hand again and now I can write slowly.

I Hope the responsible „whatever“ died after it bit me…..

Back to our hobby !

I scanned the net and checked different platforms for news on medals and badges. Found several interesting post on GCA, WAF and MFF. One posting let me think…..and finally I found out that I had never thought about it. It was all about cased wounded badges of World War II.

collection Jelle (7)

Easy area you think, you have already a black one, a silver and gold wounded badge and maybe this beautiful version…..uhhhh Legion Condor wounded badge…….but let`s start in the beginning. We have to get the terminology right. A lot of you talk about the legion condor wounded badge and the wounded badge of World War II. That is not the right way to put it down. We have to say it that way: Wounded Badge 1. pattern and the Wounded Badge 2. pattern.

Collection Heinrich (4)

The wound badge was originally established on March 3rd, 1918 by King Wilhelm II to recognize the sacrifice of those wounded during World War I. The badge was instituted in three classes with the class bestowed reflecting the number or severity of the wounds received. On May 22nd, 1939 Hitler re-instituted award of the black and silver WWI pattern wound badges, with the addition of the swastika, for bestowal to German volunteers, (Legion Condor), who had participated in the Spanish Civil war from 1936 – 1939. Of Note: Only one hundred eighty-two black and one silver badge were awarded to Condor Legion veterans.

Collection Heinrich (1)

With the outbreak of WWII, on September 1st, 1939, Hitler once again re-instituted another slightly modified version of the wound badge by altering the World War I pattern helmet on the badge to the newly designed M35 style helmet. The badge was awarded to both military and uniformed non-military personnel and later, (March 1943), to civilian personnel who received wounds as a result of enemy actions. The black wound badge was the lowest of the three classes and was awarded for one or two wounds.

Collection Heinrich (3)

The silver wound badge was awarded for three or four wounds, or if the wound was very severe, ie: loss of limb, blindness, etc..

The gold wound badge was the highest of the three classes and was awarded for five or more wounds, or if the individual was totally disabled. It was also awarded posthumously if the individual was killed in battle.

Interesting fact is hat the wounded badge 1st pattern was given out until 1940 because there were not enough second pattern finally made by the companies to give them to all soldiers who earned the badge.

Collection Heinrich (8)

So now let`s go back to the cased badges. If you examine a wounded badge 2nd pattern in gold it normally will come in a black case with white inlet.

If you were lucky enough to get a golden wounded badge 1. pattern which is also “hohl verbödet” (which means a hollow badge where the maker put a piece of metal on the back side to let it look like a flat back badge)and it is cased, this little friend will come in a black case with white inlet…..but be careful……it is like in your bedroom….the size matters.

Pictures collection Jelle

The cases for 1. pattern and 2. pattern are not the same size and I will show that with a few pictures from my collector Friend Heinrich.

As you can see the 1st pattern case is smaller, has an imprint on the top of the case and is higher than the standard black WB case. Everything is only in millimeter size but you can see it.

Pictures collection Heinrich

Shortly after start searching about WB cases I found an interesting post in the WAF where some other collectors posted their cases of.

Pictures collection Gary

Here was a statement that the wounded badges 1st pattern gold case was also used for the Wounded Badge July 20, 1944. The same maker and the same size was the information. I hope we can proof that one day or some of the collector`s who owns one will provide me with pictures and sizes.

Thanks to Henrich, Gary, Jelle and Hans for helping me out with basic information and good pictures!

That’s it so far, hope you will get back after all the DSGVO (EU General Data Protection Regulation) storm in the internet.

Thanks for reading, please help the blog to get more readers and more writers……Let the other collectors know what you can find here.

today we look at a Pilot Badge of the Luftwaffe. That’s not the first one I have in my blog. Sebastien Talbot did an article about the Imme Pilot badge on the February 2nd 2018.

This time we focus on the pilot badge from a good collector friend who is also known expert on Luftwaffe Badges in the collector community.

Interesting fact is that after all the years of collecting and studying badges of the Luftwaffe we have no idea who really made this badge. There are lots of theory`s but no hard evidence to underline the makers company.

Pilot Badge OM Beier

You might have seen it; we talk about the marker OM. In this case the badge I like to introduce to you is from the estate of Oberleutnant Wilhelm Beier.

Wilhelm Beier was a Knights Cross holder who fought at the Night fighter front over England during World War II.

Beiers OM pilot Badge Backside

He achieved a total of 38 “night” victories and served with 3./NJG 2, 7./NJG 2, 9./NJG 2, 10./NJG 1 and 3./NJG. The tail of his Junker Ju 88 C-6 features 37 “Abschussbalken” which is a really high number. At the end of the War Beier retrained on the Me262.

Back to the Pilots Badge, here some historic information:

The pilot’s qualification badge was originally introduced on January 19th, 1935 for award to personnel of the DLV, “Deutscher Luftsportsverband Fliegerschaft”, (German Air Sports Association, Pilot Base), the secret forerunner of the Luftwaffe, who achieved their pilot’s license. The badge was officially adopted by the Luftwaffe on March 26th, 1936, by order of Hermann Göring. The pilot’s badge was awarded on an individual basis to personnel who had successfully completed the appropriate theory and flight training and had achieved their military pilot’s license. As with other flyer’s specialty badges a cloth version of the pilot’s badge was authorized for wear on the flight blouse with a machine embroidered pattern for EM/NCO’s and a hand embroidered pattern for Officers.

Oberleutnant Beier got his Pilot Badge in 1940 (you can see the date on the document) and as far as we know he has worn it until the end of the war. That’s the reason why it is in a “been there” condition. For him it was like a Talisman, that way he always came back from his front duty.

Strüning and Beier

Medals and Awards of Wilhelm Beier

Pilot Badge (OM)

Clasp for Fighter in Silver

Iron Cross 2nd Class 1939

Iron Cross 1st Class 1939

Ehrenpokal of the Luftwaffe

Knights Cross of the Iron Cross 1939

He received his Knights Cross after 14 Kills with his Ju 88 C-6 October 10th 1941. More about his combat plane will follow:

The Ju 88C was originally intended as a fighter-bomber and heavy fighter by adding fixed, forward-firing guns to the nose while retaining some bomb carrying ability of the A-series bomber. The C-series had a solid metal nose, typically housing one 20 mm MG FF cannon and three 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns. The aircraft retained the ventral Bola gondola under the crew compartment though individual units sometimes removed this to reduce weight and drag to enhance performance. The Ju-88C was later used as a night fighter, and this became its main role.

Tail Ju 88 Beier

The first version of the Ju 88C was the C-1 with 20 aircraft converted from A-1 airframes. Some of them entered service in the Zerstörerstaffel of KG 30 which became part of II./NJG 1 in July 1940. The C-1 was followed by the C-2 of which 20 aircraft were converted from A-5 airframes with enlarged wingspan. The C-4 became the first production version with 60 produced and 60 converted from A-5 airframes. The C-6, of which 900 aircraft were produced, was based on the A-4 airframe with more powerful engines and stronger defensive armament (single- or dual-mount belt-fed 7.92 mm MG 81 or 13 mm MG 131 instead of drum-fed MG 15 machine guns).

The C-6 as night fighter was typically equipped with FuG 202 Lichtenstein BC low-UHF band airborne intercept radar, using the complex 32-dipole Matratze antennas. The first four C-6 night fighters were tested in early 1942 by NJG 2. The trials were successful and the aircraft was ordered into production. In October 1943, many C-6s were upgraded with new radar systems. The first new radar equipment was the FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1. After the UHF-band Lichtenstein radars had been compromised to the Allies in the late spring of 1943, the next development in German AI radar was the VHF-band FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2, discarding the 32-dipole Matratze antennae for the much larger eight-dipole Hirschgeweih (stag’s antlers) aerials, required for the longer wavelength SN-2 system.

Newspaper KC Beier

Many Ju-88C’s had their Bola gondolas modified to hold up to two forward firing 20 mm cannon. Several C-6 night fighters were equipped with two „Schräge-Musik“ upward-firing 20mm cannon in trial fittings, and from mid 1943 onward, there was an official field modification kit available for this arrangement.

A small number of the C-series day fighters had their new solid-metal noses specially painted to resemble the bomber A-series‘ „beetle’s eye“ faceted clear view nose glazing, in an attempt to deceive Allied pilots into thinking the fighters were actually bombers; the unusual „camouflage“ attempt did result initially in a number of Allied aerial losses.

The Ju 88 is not a plane with lots of space for the crew, so we think that he one day in the plane hooked behind something and the catch broke of. They fixed it “in the field”. Not so nice like an expert would do it but it was good enough.

Beier in his Ju 88

The badge has the marker OM on the backside. Some collectors doubt the fact that these badges are original but in fact the picture from Beier with all his Medals made one thing clear. The Badge on his Flight Blouse is the OM Pilot Badge.

Some collectors think that the OM Marker stands Otto Meybauer who was the Brother of Paul Meybauer. Paul Meybauer badges are know and accepted in the collector community. But there is no hard evidence that Otto Meybauer made the OM Badges.

Maybe somebody will soon find out what the mystery behind that was.

Pilot Badge OM on Beiers Uniform

Sadly there is no chance to ask one of THE night fighter experts Tim Calvert, he passed away short time ago. So may he Rest in Peace, we will not forget him.

If you have additional information on OM Badges or pictures, Paperwork or anything related to that, please feel free to contact me and I will bring it on.

Thanks for reading, please help the blog to get more readers and more writers……Let the other collectors know what you can find here.

my latest addition to my own little collection is a near mint auxiliary cruiser war badge made by Schwerin Berlin. So some of you are not so much into Kriegsmarine awards what I can understand. Famous are the known U-boat Aces and their badges, followed by the big Battleships and the High Sea Fleet badge and that’s about it.

Auxiliary War Cruiser Badge – my own collection

But a really interesting field is the story about all the auxiliary cruisers which raided the oceans worldwide during the second world war.

But let’s start at the beginning.

I think it was about 25 years ago, I was as a young collector with no money and sure without a big knowledge. Back that days it worked without the Internet to get your hands on medals and badges from World War 2. So what did we do?

We ran around every flea marked we had the chance to go to, we asked almost everybody we know about war badges in their family or if the old grandfather was as a soldier in World War 2.

Auxiliary War Cruiser Badge – my own collection backside

Sometimes you were lucky enough to get an Iron Cross or a Mother Cross from a friend`s house or even from your own relatives.

Funny thing was that almost everybody knew a Veteran living close by or next door.

That opened doors for good story’s and sometime for nice estates.

In that case my father told me about Mr. Körner. He was the local shoemaker and a retired civil worker of the German Bundeswehr. I found out, that he was a crew member of the Gorch Fock, the German Navy School Ship for Officers and before that, he was in the Kriegsmarine.

So I went to his house, rang the bell and as he opened the door I told him who I was and that I like to hear something about his Kriegsmarine time.

Took me three times at his door to make him understand who I was and what my intension were. Finally, he let me in and we had a little talk about his time on the Gorch Fock.

Interesting cruises and good time was what he told me. After 20 Minutes I asked about his time in the Kriegsmarine. Suddenly he was quiet and looked me deep in my eyes……. Then he told me to get up and we went in his little office in the back of his house.

Mr. Körners wall with HSK Atlantis and Aux. War Cruiser Badge

There were some pictures on the wall with ship crossing the ocean. One was the “Schulschiff Deutschland” of the German Navy and another one was “HSK Atlantis” ………

So I found a crew member of Bernhard Rogges Auxiliary cruiser who made the 622-day trip around the world.

He told me about his time on the Ship “Albert Leo Schlageter” and then his first day on board of Atlantis. All what happened there until he ended up explaining his transport back in an Italian submarine after they were sunk……..

Back in Germany he served on a Minesweeper and finally he evacuated lots of civilians from Kurland Kessel until the end of the war.

The best and also the last wartime Story was the cruise back home. His Minesweeper boat were somewhere in a Harbor (think it was Travemünde) far away from Kiel. It was the 8th of May 1945 and the war was over. Most of his comrades and the officers left the minesweeper and headed home for their families.

He stayed on the boat and tried to figure out what to do. So he and some other navy soldiers (what was left of the Crew) took the boat all the way back to Kiel Harbor, stopped there and left the boat.

It was a 50 km march home to his wife and his daughter. He got close to his hometown (about 5 km left to go) as suddenly British troops stopped him.

They asked him who he was and where he wanted to go (he was still in Kriegsmarine Uniform). He told them all they wanted to know…. finally, they send him home with the promise to stay in his town for the next weeks until they come back.

So he did and weeks later he got his paperwork that he was official a non-war criminal no prisoner of war. He was a free man and lucky to survive the war.

Never heard that before, it is something different reading a book about Ship 16 (HSK 2) or talk to a man who experienced it all during that time.

After the war he worked as a civilian shoemaker on the German “Schulschiff Deutschland” and then on the “Gorch Fock” until he retired.

I went back three times for more information’s about his time on board. He showed me pictures and paperwork from his time and on the last day he presented his Auxiliary badge made by Schwerin Berlin. Back that days I did not know it better, but my friend Martin W. explained that the whole Atlantis Crew got their Badges together in Berlin and…..they all got Juncker Badges. So I never asked Mr. Körner but it seemed like he bought another one for his uniform and that piece survived the war.

I did not ask for it but he put it all on the table together with his Iron Cross 1st class and Iron Cross 2nd class, his minesweeper badge and his 1957 clasp. There I saw that he also got the Navy Front Clasp and the Kurland cuff title. He told me that if I want the badges I can have them………..

Mr. Körners medals and badges , pictures taken 20 years ago

What an honor that he wanted to give them to me. I told him that they will get a good place in my collection. While we were talking his wife came in, looked at us and asked what we are doing with the old Nazi badges. So he told her that he wanted to give me the badges for my collection.

You can imagine what happened next. She said the son in law was also a soldier on actice duty (not like me in the navy but in the army) and he asked for the badges years ago. So if somebody will get them, it will not be me.

I did not say anything and waited for the reaction of Mr. Körner. As you all know the real boss in your house is the “CIC Home fleet”, your wife…..and when she decides then she decides.

With little tears in my eyes I left Mr. Körner and headed home. Over the years I stopped by to see how he is and we talked about the old navy and the new navy.

In 2009 he had his 70 years wedding anniversary and shortly after that he died and I didn´t had the chance to participate at his funeral because I was far away from home with my ship.

All the years I tried to get an auxiliary cruiser badge made from Tombak by Schwerin Berlin with the marker on it……that was not easy.

High End Schwerin Berlin Tombak cased – picture from Militaria Scholz

If there was one, I did not have the money to buy it or the badge was in such a bad condition…. Sometimes you have to wait and wait and wait. I got some nice Juncker Auxiliary Badges for my collection and also Schwerin Berlin made badges, but always without marker on the backside.

Finally, with the help of Christian K. I got mine and the Schwerin Collection is now complete!

Here is some background on Auxiliary Cruisers and the Atlantis for you:

At the outbreak of war, the Kriegsmarine requisitioned a number of fast merchantmen and immediately sent them into naval shipyards to be converted into offensive auxiliary cruisers. These ships had at the time of building been fitted with extra strong decks specifically to facilitate the installation of military equipment when required, but this was the only difference between them and other merchantmen of the period. No precise plans had been drawn up for the conversion of these ships into warships, and consequently the conversion process was painfully long. Compared to the diversity of British auxiliary cruisers, the Hilfskreuzer were standardized insofar as possible. The ships themselves averaged approximately 7,000 long tons (7,100 t). Armament usually consisted of six 6 in guns, two to six torpedo tubes, and an assortment of 40 mm (1.57 in), 37 mm, and 20 mm (0.79 in) automatic weapons. Most of these merchant raiders carried an Arado Ar 196 floatplane for reconnaissance. Kormoran, Komet, and Michel were also equipped with small motor torpedo boats. In addition to armament, increased fuel, water, and coal storage had to be provided for as well. Furthermore, the raiders could not abandon the crews of their captures, so space had to be provided for prisoners. The first Hilfskreuzer got under way in March 1940, shortly before the Norwegian campaign. The Auxiliary Cruisers were credited with sinking roughly 800,000 tons of Allied shipping during the war. Of the eleven main Auxiliary Cruisers, six were sunk by enemy action, one burnt in Yokohama harbor, one was scuttled after battle damage, one was decommissioned and the remaining two were captured by the Allies at the end of the war.

Hilfskreuzer Atlantis – Auxiliary Cruiser Atlantis

Orion (HSK-1)

Atlantis (HSK-2)

Widder (HSK-3)

Thor (HSK-4)

Pinguin (HSK-5)

Stier (HSK-6)

Komet (HSK-7)

Kormoran (HSK-8)

Michel (HSK-9)

Coronel (HSK-10)

Hansa (HSK-11)

The German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis (HSK 2), known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 16 and to the Royal Navy as Raider-C, was a converted German Hilfskreuzer (auxiliary cruiser), or merchant or commerce raider of the Kriegsmarine, which, in World War II, travelled more than 161,000 km (100,000 mi) in 602 days, and sank or captured 22 ships totaling 144,384 t (142,104 long tons). Atlantis was commanded by Kapitän zur See Bernhard Rogge, who received the Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. She was sunk on 22 November 1941 by the British cruiser HMS Devonshire.

The Auxiliary Cruiser Badge or the Hilfskreuzer Badge is one of the nicest Kriegsmarine badges I know. Always a looker on not very often to find.

The Auxiliary Cruiser War Badge was instituted on April 24th 1941, by “Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine und Großadmiral”, (Commander in Chief of the Navy and Grand Admiral), Erich Raeder, for award to armed Merchant Marine personnel, to recognize their contribution in harassing and sinking Allied merchant ships… Of Note: Generally, the early production Auxiliary Cruiser War Badges had the separate likeness of the globe attached by a single rivet, while later war production versions were manufactured as a single piece.

Auxiliary Cruiser War Badges Tombak Schwerin – Martin W. Collection

The Badge normally is a two piece, die struck, tombak construction badge with fire gilt and nickel/silver plated finishes. The badge is in the form a gilt washed, vertically oval, embossed, oak-leaf wreath with a national eagle with big out-stretched wings, clutching a canted, swastika in its talons, superimposed to the top center, encompassing a cut-out, „Viking“ style, long boat with full sail, cruising on a separate likeness of a nickel/silver plated, northern portion of the globe. The detailing includes the dragon figurehead and oval shields on the ship, longitude and latitude lines and the embossed outline of Great Britain, Western Europe and North Africa on the globe. The separate globe is attached to the badge by a single, small, dome headed, rivet which is visible on the reverse. The reverse has a soldered, solid, block type hinge, a broad, tapering, vertical pin and a heavy, soldered, retaining catch all intact.

There 6 different versions from that Schwerin Badge. We are only looking at Tombak made Badges with Schwerin Berlin marked on the backside. Martin W. was so kind to help me out with backside pictures. Here you see the difference between 3 badges.

Different set up – List of Norm F.

But that’s not all, Norm F. made list of all known versions and here is the list.

If you have more questions about Auxiliary War Badges feel free to contact me. I gone try to answer the question or I will transport the question to my Kriegsmarine Collector Friends and Specialist for that kind of awards Martin, Norm and Hubert.

Thank you for reading, please help the blog to get more readers and more writers……Let the other collectors know what you can find here.

this year was my first time on the spring Kassel show 12.04. – 14.04.2018.

The way in !

Like the last year my part or my work at the show was behind the sales counter of the company Trave-Militaria from Lübeck. My main Job is still lieutenant commander in the German Navy, but for Trave-Militaria I work as a consulter and during the big shows I take care of the international collectors.

This time we started of very early and arrived in Kassel on Tuesday 10th of April at about 14:00 o`clock. There were lot of activity in the big building number 1. For the smaller April fair only one hall was open for the dealers.

Wednesday on Fair

Everybody was working on their sales both, bringing lots of military item in and try to put their nicest stuff in a good position.

We put our sales area together and also had some time to look around. We met Mr. Helmut Weitze from Weitze Militaria and his crew and lots of old collector friends.

Wednesday II on Fair

We catched the hottest news and lots of rumors about the big things going on like the estates of “Schulz” and “Bäke”. Everybody knew something and information’s (good and bad) circled the dealer corners. During that talking we checked the medals and badges of the other dealers and bought some little pieces.

At the end of Tuesday, we went back to the hotel for a shower and some dinner, one or two beer made the evening even better.

Nice Medal Bar 1

On Wednesday morning more and more dealers came to building one and started their set up. Also some collectors with dealer cards stopped by for a chat and started to hunt the fair for the best deals. I met Mr. Christian von Eicke from Militaria Berlin and Skip also. We had some good talks during lunch time and always some jokes to tell and….funny time !

My workspace at Trave Militaria

Also Mr. Frank Scholz from Militaria Scholz was there and we talked about high end Luftwaffen badges and the ongoing up and down of the prices (what a mystery).

For my one of the highlights was the first personal meeting with Mr. Philippe de Bock, owner of the German Combat Awards Forum and Book Author of the Panzer Assault Book…and I mean THE PAB Book. We had good conversation’s as suddenly Mr. Giel Van Wassenhove from Giels Militaria showed up and it was also a pleasure to meet him in Person. That’s always the best part on military shows, meet the guys live and not via Whats App or Email.

All were hunting for high end stuff and some guys were lucky…..I heard from a buy of three Iron Crosse 2n class 1939 marked 21……extremely hard to get. Also a nice Legion Condor Tank grouping was sold and a few very nice Luftwaffe estates.

Somebody told me about a SS Generals Tunic which was sold from somebody to somebody but I did not get further information’s nor did I see it. Bad luck!

Thursday III on fair

The Wednesday ended with some long drinks at the hotel bar and as always with lots of collector story’s and fairy tales about high end military which were found somewhere…..

On Thursday again the day started early and we arrived at the show about 08:30. Enough time to go around and check the late dealers which came in the morning to build up the sales booth.

Hermann Historica Bäke GroupingBought on the show by Trave Militaria

At 10:00 the gates opened and a flood of collectors came in. Hunting for iron crosses WW 1 and WW 2 marker marked, lot of tank estate collectors asked for paperwork and U-boat estate collectors for rare documents. Combat Badges where in the focus as always, but here also it had to be a rare maker or mint condition. The European collectors bought lot of small things for a resell in their country. Time passes by and I met a lot of collectors from all over the world, that was really fun and always good to get an inside view how a collector brain works 😉

At about 15:00 my shift was over and I had to get back home. We were released by Peggy and Christian and from that time on their job was to help the boss.

Took me about 6 hours to get home and see my family again.

Bottom line for me, this fair was smaller than the Autumn Show from last year and less collectors and dealers were there. But the networking was great and as always I learned a lot.

I am looking forward to the next Kassel Show in November 2018 and I hope to see you guys there.

after the hard Eastern time with the family and lots of good food (and beer) we have to go back to our hobby. Like I wrote it before, during the dark winter time there are enough free hours to scan the own collection and dig deeper into some of our lovely pieces and their history. Sometimes only to get more information about the variation or to get more information about the story behind the medal or badge.

Narvik Shield Luftwaffe snaggletooth

So I grabbed my two Narvik Shields which I usually keep in my bank locker and scanned them closely. After checking my books to get more information I contacted Pascal H., one of the leading shield experts I know (and probably most of you know him too….).

I send him a scan of my silver Narvik Shield which I got years ago from the family of the soldier. Remembering the story how I got it, I searched for a picture of the day the pieces arrived by mail at my place.

Here you see what they sold me. There were three unworn Luftwaffe Narvik Shields and Flak Badge of the Luftwaffe (cased). All wrapped in and signed by the unit which reads “Dienststelle L10480”

That day I was happy and put all of it to my collection. All shields were unworn and in really TOP condition. Sadly after I called the family again and asked for paperwork and pictures they told me that that’s all there was……

Back to Pascal, he told me that my shields are the version with the name “snaggletooth” type. The name came from Mr. Frank Heukemes who did also a lot of research about campaign shields.

3 x Narvik Shield Luftwaffe snaggletooth (1)

Funny name but in fact these type of shields are easy to recognize as this is the only type of shield were the wings of the eagle don’t touch the bar (under the bird).

If you look back to the picture with the three shields, it is hard to believe that they were given posthumous to the soldier. In case of a K.I.A there is one only shield shipped home. Maybe he was awarded three of them and died later in the war….So they send all medals and badges he had home. We will never know…..

Here are some details on my shield:

Size without fabric:

36 mm wide and 91 mm high

Size over all:

55 mm wide and 102 mm high

The weight is about 31 Gramm, it got 4 prongs and it is not magnetic.

More Background

The Narvik Campaign shield was the first of a series of campaign shields to be introduced and was established by Adolf Hitler on August 19th, 1940 for award to all Wehrmacht, (Armed Forces), personnel who participated in the battle of Narvik / Norway between April 9th and June 9th, 1940. Of Note: Although the shield was officially introduced on August 19th,1940 it wasn’t until September 12th, 1940 that the OKM, “Oberkommando des Marine”, (Navy High Command), published the issuing order, followed by the Luftwaffe, (Air-Force), the next day. The Kriegsmarine version of the shield was gilt washed while those awarded to Heer, (Army), and Luftwaffe personnel were silver washed. The shields were bestowed by Generalleutnant Eduard Dietl the commander of Army Group Narvik and it is alleged that a total of only 8,577 shields were awarded to all branches of service personnel. The shields were to be worn on the upper left sleeve of the uniform. The color of the backing material was to match that of the uniform it was to be worn on.

Finally I got information to my shield, learned again something about different versions and maybe that was interesting for you, too.

with the cuff title of Fallschirmjäger Regiment 1 there is special connection. In 1995 I was with my ship „Zerstörer Rommel“ (a german destroyer DDG 103 B) on basic operational sea training in England. During a visit in the city of Plymouth I found an antique store which also sold some medals and badges. There was a Fallschirmjäger Regiment 1 cuff title and I bought it for small money (think it was about 150,- DM which are now 75,- Euro)

Happy to bring it back to Germany and I put it in my collection.

Years later I found out it was a fake on…..lesson learned 😉

All the regiment cuff titles you see here are originals !

Fallschirm Jäger Regiment 1 enlisted men HAND EMBROIDERED (1)

These cuff titles were manufactured from dark green badge-cloth, were 3.2 cm wide and were executed in “Frakturschrift” as follows:

– For Officers the cuff title was hand embroidered in aluminum thread and featured the addition of an approximately 3 mm wide aluminum braid (Soutache) edging.

– For NCOs, the cuff title had machine embroidery made of matt gray or whitish-gray cotton and featured an approximately 3 mm wide cotton braid (Soutache) edging .

– Although similar in material and color the version for enlisted men lacked the braid edging.

Very important to know is that the cuff titles of FallschirmJäger-Regiment 1 are the only ones were also cuff titles for enlisted men can be found which are HAND embroidered letters !!!!

Fallschirm Jäger Regiment 1 Officer

Method of Wear:

The cuff title was worn on the Tuchrock just above the turned back cuff of the right sleeve. When worn by a soldier holding an appointment to the position of “Spieß”, it was attached just above the sleeve rings indicating this status. Officers also wore the cuff title on the Fliegerbluse and the white Summer Tunic. It`s evidenced by numerous photographs however, that the wearing of this cuff title was probably complied with less and less over the course of the war.

Note: A formal date of introduction was not discovered for the cuff titles with the names Regt. 4 and Regt.5 . One explanation for this would probably be that when examples of this cuff title are encountered they are mostly of makeshift appearance, fabricated by the troops themselves. In the relevant cuff titles, the original numbers have been removed and replaced by a rather coarsely embroidered 4 or 5.

Fallschirm Jäger Regiment 1 normal b

History Fallschirmjäger- Regiment 1

The formation of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1 began on April 1st, 1938, based around IV. (Fallschirm) Bataillon from „Regiment General Göring“. The battalion, consisting of five companies, was the main battalion of the “Fallschirmtruppe” and initially formed 1st battalion of the regiment in Stendal, which was subordinated to 7th Flieger Division under General Student, in the context of plans for use in the Sudetenland.

On September 1st, 1939 the former “Heeres-Fallschirm-Infanterie-Bataillon (Braunschweig)” joined the Luftwaffe as 2nd / 1 , and the “Luftlande-Bataillon General Göring“ (moved from Berlin to Gardelegen ) joined the Regiment as 3rd / 1.

In March, the three battalions were intended to be used as part of the 7th Flieger Division in occupying the rest of Czechoslovakia, but due to bad weather they did not take part.

After formation of a “Regimentsstab” in June 1939, Bruno Bräuer took over as the first commander of the regiment.

Fallschirm Jäger Regiment 1 normal

During the Polish campaign some missions were planned for 7th Flieger Division , however they were initially not used. Subsequently during the campaign however, parts of the regiment were used in ground combat at Radom and Pulawy .

In early April 1940, the 1st / 1 was prepared for use in Norway, where it went into action from April 9th, 1940. The German paratroopers took the airfields at Oslo-Fornebu and Stavanger-Sola and secured the Storstromme Bridge. Also the 1st company fought in the Dombas area.

For use in Belgium in 1940, parts of the regiment were detached to “Sturm-Abteilung Koch”. In addition, 1st and 2nd battalion received the order to capture the important bridges at Moerdijk and Dordrecht . The 3rd / 1 was to occupy the airfield at Waalhaven, land a platoon on the outskirts of suburban Rotterdam-Feyenoord and capture the Rotterdam bridges. 3rd battalion achieved its goals, and the 1st and 2nd / 1 also fulfilled their duties, albeit with heavy losses. The days which followed were taken up in determined fighting to hold the positions which had been captured. The regiment contributed significantly and at the foreground of the successes of the paratroops in the western campaign.

At the end of May 1940, the regiment was moved to Norway and supported the struggles in the Narvik area with General Dietl.

Fallschirm Jäger Regiment 1 enlisted men HAND EMBROIDERED (2)

After the conquest of the Balkans came the task of occupying the island of Crete, as part of operation „Merkur“. The regiment was employed in the 2nd wave, as part of “Gruppe Ost”, to occupy the city and airport of Heraklion. This task, after suffering heavy losses on the first two days of the operation (2nd / 1 lost about 400 men), could not be achieved and so the regiment was given the task of holding the enemy and preventing the use of the airfield. On May 29th, 1941 the airfield and the town of Heraklion were occupied after being evacuated by British troops. With this, the eastern part of the island also capitulated and 200 Fallschirmäger prisoners could be freed. Among the 3,094 fallen paratroopers were numerous members of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1.

After the end of the fighting, the regiment was the first paratrooper unit to be moved back home and in August they arrived at the “Truppenübungsplatz” Bergen-Hohne. The 2nd / 1 was temporarily renamed as the “Fallschirm-Lehr-Bataillon” and the losses in Crete were more or less made up.

On September 24th, 1941 came the order to insert a Fallschirmjäger-Regiment into the area south of

Fallschirm Jäger Regiment 1

Lake Ladoga on the northern section of the Eastern Front. The choice fell on Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1, to take the place of the missing 2nd / 1, 2nd / Storm Regiment. With this action, the process began of removing the paratroops from their own specialist role and to use them as regular ground combat troops. Subsequently, the remaining parts of the 7th Flieger Division were also used in this manner and thereby suffered severe losses because of often used being used in a fragmented manner. Having arrived at the limits of their combat effectiveness in late November a return home was warranted but the increasingly deteriorating situation on the eastern front prevented this. Only in May 1942 was the refresh of almost all units carried out in Normandy, where the Regiment was given a new 2nd battalion. In mid-October 7th Flieger Division moved into the area of “Heeresgruppe Mitte”. In January 1943, the 3rd / 1 was moved into the Welikije Luki area, there to relieve an encircled “Kampfgruppe” at temperatures of -43 ° C. After a few quiet days bivouacked there, there was a major enemy attack, which the battalion withstood and was returned to the 7th Flieger Division on January 16th 1943. A short time later came an alarm involving the whole regiment near Orel, where it was replaced in March 1943 after the position was stabilized.

Fallschirm Jäger Regiment and Division Willi`s collection

Between February and May 1943, 7th Flieger Division was renamed as 1 Fallschirmjäger-Division, into which Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1 was also absorbed. At the end of April the Division was assembled in Normandy and was then relocated in May / June to southern France. The Division was located in the Rhone Valley. In March 1944, 3rd / 1. had been removed and used in the formation of the 3. Fallschirmjäger-Division. It was subsequently reformed.

In July 1943 came the action in Sicily, where a move of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1 by rail was carried out. During this movement, the regiment was stopped and moved into the area Eboli to be used in case of a possible Italian withdraw from its alliance with Germany.

In September the Regiment came under the control of its division at the Allied bridgehead at Salerno and then at Cassino. The regiment earned a legendary reputation there, but was eventually forced to retreat. In June in the area around Rimini, the regiment was one of the last German units to cross the Po. Withdrawing to the Alps, the Regiment rejoined the rest of the Division on May 2nd, 1945.

Hope that the Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1 information was good for your hobby!

Subscribe for more and get an email every time a new article goes online !

during this cold and dark winter I have more time for checking the net for interesting badges. A few days ago I stumbled over a General Assault Badge with a screw back. Not a normal screw back as most of you know from Iron Crosses first class. I talk about the seashell screw back version. In Germany we use the term “Sternenschraubscheibe” which means star screw back.

General Assault Badge Screwback made by Alois Rettenmaier

My collector friend Gabin Bruneau from France is the proud owner of that nice GAB. I asked for some pictures and more details about the badge and here we go.

The weight of the screw back: 5.85g

The weight of the badge: 27.75g

Both together: 33.60g

The measurements of the badeg are: 540 mm high and 445 mm wide. The screwback itself has 410 mm.

General Assault Badge Screwback made by Alois Rettenmaier E

So in this case we have a General Assault Badge made by the company Alois Rettenmaier. If you look for this company you will see they are still in service and located in Germany, Schwäbisch Gmünd

Well, Alois Rettenmaier and seashell……maybe you remember seeing Infantry Assault Badges made by Rettenmaier before with this sort of backside. I started to search the net for more badges with clamshell screw backs and found some.

General Assault Badge Screwback made by Alois Rettenmaier A

In the Luftwaffen Badge area I found some pilot badges, sadly just with normal screw backs, Kriegsmarine was the same, no luck there. Only one Uboat Badge but I think that was not a good one with the screw back…..

So I went on and found wounded badges from World War I with clamshells, Iron Crosses 1st class 1914 and Iron Crosses 1st class 1939 with that clamshell. Even on the clasp for the iron cross 1939 1st class we found them…..So they are out there but you have to be careful: Bad guys already know that the price goes up if there is a screw back instead of a pin….even better a seashell……watch out and get good information before you buy.

Let`s go back to the General Assault Badge. Searching for more information another collector friend provided me with pictures from his collection. There are 3 known makers which made clamshell screw backs General Assault Badges:

1.Schauerte & Höhfeld

2.Deumer

3.Alois Rettenmaier

And here are the pictures to the different GAB makers.

Schauerte & Höhfeld, Wilhelm Deumer, and Alois Rettenmaier

Schauerte & Höhfeld, Wilhelm Deumer, and Alois Rettenmaier backside

As always we need some historical facts to the General Assault Badge:

The General Assault badge was introduced on June 1st, 1940 by Generaloberst Walther von Brauchitsch, for award to support personnel who were ineligible for the Infantry or Panzer Assault badges. Criteria for award of the badge was basically the same as the criteria for award of the Infantry and Panzer Assault badges with the main qualification being participation in three separate assaults in a supporting role. On its introduction the badge was only intended for award to combat engineers and was designated, Pionier-Sturmabzeichen, (Engineer’s Assault Badge). Shortly afterwards award of the badge was extended to other support personnel including artillery and assault gun personnel, anti-tank and anti-aircraft personnel and medical personnel. Of Note: Before the introduction of the Tank Destruction Strip in March 1942, personnel who had single handedly destroyed an enemy tank with Infantry weapons were awarded the General Assault Badge.

Finally for the collectors of GAB`s or IAB`s who wants all varieties for their collection, it will be a hard way to get them all. I think they pop up here and there but because of the rarity they are already sold when you try to get them

Thanks again to all collectors who provided me with picture material. Some pictures are without any source, so if that is from your collection let me know. So I can credit it to your name.

Hope that the clam shell information was good for your hobby!

Subscribe for more and get an email every time a new article goes online !

Hi Collector Friends, today I like to bring an article about the Imme Pilot Badge to you which was written by Mr. Sebastian Talbot who is a specialist in WW2 Luftwaffe Badges. Enjoy it.

Today I would like to present to you this J2 JMME pilot badge which holds much importance to me. When you collect, you tend to be drawn to a specific award for many reasons. This badge holds a special place in my collection since it was the very first one I acquired for my personal collection. Purchased from another collector and friend, Giel, more than a decade ago.

Pilot Badge JMME J2 Front

This badge dosen’t have anything rare or fancy, but represents a wide range of badges awarded during the mid war period. Made from Juncker wreath and eagle, this pilot badge was assembled by the JMME manufacture. The JMME signature in the hardware is the typical doomed nickel silver rivets and nickel silver C catch. The finish colour is particular to this maker with the nice goldish/greenish finish for both the wreath and eagle. Produced between 1939 to 1942, this badge was produced in a large number. Some rarer examples can be found with a darkened eagle and these were most likely darkened by Juncker firm.

The JMME pilot badge from this period came out with the presentation box with either early velvet or spray felt interior and paper hinge depending of the period distributed. The exterior can be either the two or three layers imprint on the cover.

Pilot Badge JMME J2 Back

Historical Facts about the Pilot Badge:

The pilot’s qualification badge was originally introduced on January 19th, 1935 for award to personnel of the DLV, “Deutscher Luftsportsverband Fliegerschaft”, (German Air Sports Association, Pilot Base), the secret forerunner of the Luftwaffe, who achieved their pilot’s license. The badge was officially adopted by the Luftwaffe on March 26th, 1936, by order of Hermann Göring. The pilot’s badge was awarded on an individual basis to personnel who had successfully completed the appropriate theory and flight training and had achieved their military pilot’s license. As with other flyer’s specialty badges a cloth version of the pilot’s badge was authorized for wear on the flight blouse with a machine embroidered pattern for EM/NCO’s and a hand embroidered pattern for Officers. Of Note: Originally the cloth version of the pilot’s badge was only authorized for wear by Officers ranks until regulations of November 18th, 1937 extended the authorized wear of the cloth versions to EM/NCO’s. Further regulations of May 8th, 1942 discontinued production of the cloth versions although they continued to worn through-out the war.

Sebastien Talbot

Subscribe for more and get an email every time a new article goes online !

Hi gents, almost time to go back to our mace of good or bad high end shields of World War II.

I did the Cholm shield part one and got a lot of feedback from collectors with thumbs up and more good information. What I liked the most was the question if I can do a part two with the cupal example and the zinc version….I will do that but it takes some time.

By the way I would like to know if there are hobby writers among you guys. I would love to make this blog bigger with more articles but my time is endless. So if you like to do something on a special badge of World War II or something similar…..just contact me and we work it out. If you are from Germany don’t be afraid, if you write in german I can translate it for you 😉

Original Lorient Shield Collection Patrick W (5)

However back to our riddle of rare shields. Today I like to bring you some information on the Lorient shield and what happened there.

And (I think you already knew it) I have been to Lorient in the early 90´s and was impressed about the big Bunker`s which were build there during the war. Huge monsters made from concrete and steel to protect the German submarine from air raids until 1945 on the Atlantic coast. Lorient was the home base of the 10th. U-Flottilla (Unterseebootflottille). I was lucky to get a picture of the cap badge which Uboat crew member used to wear on their oversea cap (Schiffchen).

Here some background to the area of Lorient and historical facts:

Lorient, on the Bay of Biscay, had been an important French naval base until June 1940. With the capture of the base in the same month by German troops (see France campaign), the town in succession got more and more of strategic importance for the German Navy.

Cap Badge 10. U-Flottille Lorient

This concerned above all the submarine construction with its bunker buildings on the peninsula Kéroman.

U-Baot Bunker Kéroman III in Lorient

In August / September 1944, following the Allied invasion of Normandy, the port and town of Lorient were completely enclosed by US and British forces, with some 22,000 German soldiers. Adolf Hitler thereupon declared the city a fortress. During the eight-month siege, which ended with the surrender of the remaining German forces on May 10th, 1945, there were some fighting going on.

Attack direction Allied Forces 1944

Fortress Lorient was not Lorient only, but also Groix Island, Etel River, the coast between Lorient and Port Navalo, Quiberon peninsula, Belle-Ile island, and had connection with the Saint Nazaire pocket.

So finally a big area to defend with lots of artillery, bunkers and trenches around the main part of Lorient.
To get a better view on the fighting during that time, we jump in after the D-Day to August 9th ,1944. The 4th US Armored Division reached the large-scale German defense area around Lorient, which was surrounded as an important submarine base by a ring of anti-aircraft guns and artillery. In Saint-Gilles fierce fighting broke out around a bridge, which was one of the few accesses to Lorient.

Fortress Lorient 1 – 12 August 1944

A volunteer Belarussian cavalry brigade had been stationed by the Germans in defense of the American advance in this place. After a short battle, the streets were covered in blood in the rain of the wounded or dead horses and soldiers. Further towards the village core, Belorussians had positioned themselves on the houses and in turn began firing at the invading US tanks.

Fortress Lorient 01.12.1944

The tanks and other vehicles succeeded after some time the breakthrough to the bridge and its crossing. At nightfall, the Allies succeeded in positioning artillery at Caudan, about three kilometers north of Lorient. After brief bombardment of the opposing positions in Lorient, the Americans gave the Germans an ultimatum to the task, which was rejected. Since a further procedure would have been possible only with significantly increased artillery, the division leadership decided a partial retreat to the area of ​​Vannes, about 60 kilometers southeast of Lorient. Only a smaller siege group was left behind.

Fortress Lorient 01.02.1945

Task Force B of the 6th US Armored Division advanced 180 miles from Brest to Vannes on 14 August to replace the units of the 4th US Armored Division north and east of the city. On the way there they encountered no German resistance. Around noon, a reserve command advanced to Lorient to support the remaining group of the 4th US Armored Division. On August 15, the entire 6th US Armored Division arrived at Lorient. The front line enclosed the fortress Lorient and the Quiberon peninsula in the east as well as patrols from Redon in the east to the area to the Daoulas peninsula in the west.

France, Rommel and Fahrmbacher on the roof of an U-Boat Bunker

After Vannes was taken and the wider area was controlled by the French resistance, the 6th US Armored Division focused on the area around Lorient. The city itself was too heavily fortified to have a promising attack there. The German defenders, who are from parts of the XXV. Army Corps under the Commander-in-Chief for Brittany, General Wilhelm Fahrmbacher, as well as remnants of the 265th Infantry Division under Lieutenant General Hans Junck, who was in the fortress Saint-Nazaire, and Rear Admiral Otto Kähler, since February 1944 Commander of the Naval Defense of Brittany [NB Kähler, however, had become a prisoner of war on September 18, 1944 in Brest], passed, had in return no chance of counterattacking, and was also bound by Hitler’s order to keep the port cities to the last.

Knights Cross Document General Fahrmbacher

So both sides confined themselves to intensive patrols and artillery fire. The Americans had set up twelve observation posts around Lorient, from which reconnaissance units were sent to scout the German artillery positions. In addition, work began on mining the entire front line with booby traps. In some cases German patrols could be captured. But also Americans came during a small skirmish between reconnaissance patrols in German captivity.
The 6th US Armored Division was replaced on September 10 by the 94th US Infantry Division, which continued the siege, and moved east to the 3rd US Army. On 17 November, a brief ceasefire was agreed for the purpose of mutual exchange of prisoners. General Wilhelm Fahrmbacher capitulated on May 10, 1945,

Lorient Soldbuch with entry Lorient (2)

Both the Lorient and St.Nazaire pockets contained about 53000 German troops at the time of surrender. The Lorient pocket alone had over 25000 German troops.

These forces surrendered to the US 66th Infantry Division with a number of attached French units.
—-

Lorient Shield Collection Pascal H. front view

During the siege of Lorient the idea to make a remberence shield was born by some of the officers. The artistic design of the shield goes back to the head of the shipbuilding workshops of the submarine base “Marine Baurat” K. Fehrenberg. They asked General Fahrmbacher (Wilhelm Fahrmbacher (19 September 1888 – 27 April 1970) was a General in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II who commanded several corps. He was a recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. Upon Germany’s surrender in 1945, General Fahrmbacher was interned in France until 1950.

Original Lorient Shield 1 (1)

After his release he served as a military advisor in Egypt) and he approved the idea. With little corrections (a German eagle with a swastika on the soldiers shield) the shield was approved and the production began by using different materials due to the supply problems during the siege of Lorient.

The final shield itself shows in its upper end the year 1944 as well as on the lower side the lettering LORIENT. In the center, a naked Wehrmacht soldier was stylized with a steel helmet attached, holding a sword in his right hand and a shield (symbol of defense) in his left hand.

Original Lorient Shield 6

It is not exactly known if all Lorient shields have the Wehrmacht eagle on the soldiers shield, there are information about some shields with a Luftwaffen eagle on the soldiers shield (not proven until today). The unusual idea of ​​representing a naked soldier presumably goes back to the idea of ​​the creator, who wanted to use this symbolism to vividly portray „bare survival“. Also the evidence for this theory is missing. Behind the symbol of the soldier were represented the rays of the rising sun, which are regarded as a symbol of hope.

Original Lorient Shield Collection LUC (1)

Finally, under the soldier a submarine is shown, which can be seen in front of a submarine bunker (on the Keroman Island) on waves in ride. Since it was not possible to supply the garrison on land, from the air or to water, it was decided to use the existing sheet metal stocks, u. a. from scrap, to resort. For the production one used copper, brass, aluminum and even steel. Higher officers received a chromed version of copper. Of course, the use of different metals also resulted in different colors. Through the use of several „punching presses“ and templates, the appearance of the sign differed significantly from machine to machine, so that there was no question of a uniform pattern embossing.
Accurate and reliable award numbers cannot be quantified. It is assumed that after all sheet metal stocks were used up in November 1944, about 10,000 – 12,000 shields were pressed. These were then issued at Christmas 1944 to deserving soldiers of the occupation. Thus, about every second garrison received the Lorient shield.

The Lorient shield is not a combat badge of the Wehrmacht like the Cholm shield, as neither its foundation nor the ceremony were officially. The shield was therefore regarded only as a „traditional badge“. With the entry in the “Soldbuch” also no claim to official acceptance of the shield by the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Therefore, this shield has not been included in the Law on Titles, Orders and Decorations of 26 July 1957.

Original Lorient Shields

After all these good information’s from collector friends, books, archives and databases I come to the following conclusion about Lorient shields.

There are some originals out there, but they are very hard to find. If it is true and they made 12.000 of them, what happened to the soldiers of Lorient during the surrender. Most of their personal things were taken by the allied soldiers as a souvenir. Maybe a few got their badges home from their POW time. I you look on the originals, you see them made of different materials. Some shields with prongs, some shields with holes to sew it to the uniform and some shields without anything of that. Originals are not made with a lot of details and they are not solid. You can always see that they were “pressed” in a certain way. Some have a fabric backing, but in my opinion that was made so you cannot see the backside and buy it as an original shield from the time period. In this high price area you have to be sure that you buy an original. Better to spend more money on it and buy at a dealer with a “give back guarantee”. Even if you buy directly from the family, there is no proof that the vet didn`t buy it in the early 50`s or 60`s. To be really sure you should use one of the bigger forums like GCA or WAF with all the experts there. They will know it for sure.

Copys of Lorient Shields

Big “thank you” to all collectors who helped me bring this information to you. There are Pascal, Patrick, Luc, Christian, Uwe, Holger, Jens and some guys who like to stay in the shadow.

Subscribe for more and get an email every time a new article goes online !

alomst time for another cuff title to speak about. It is connected with the beginning of the Fallschirmtruppe of the Luftwaffe. So lets go into it and I hope you like it.

cuff title L.P.G. General Göring on green fabric

Shortly after 31.01.1933, and the accession of Adolf Hitler to the position of Reichskanzler, Hermann Göring, at that time amongst other things also the Prussian Minister of the Interior, ordered the creation of a special Police unit, a unit which would stand loyal to the Führer and break any resistance to the young National Socialist movement. On 23.02.1933 Major of the Prussian Police Walther Wecke was entrusted with the command of this unit. Two days later Wecke reported the creation of his „Polizei-Abteilung zbV. “ with a strength of 14 Officers and 400 Men. The „Abteilung“ was initially based in the district of Kreuzberg (Berlin), in the former barracks of the Queen Augusta Grenadier Guards Regiment 4 and then in the barracks of the former Prussian Queen Elizabeth Grenadier Guards Regiment 3 in Charlottenburg.

Already on 02.03.1933, the „Abteilung“, more commonly called „Polizei-Abteilung Wecke“ , was first used against political opponents in Berlin. It was mainly used to smash the KPD meetings and other workers‘ organizations, with the aim of eliminating the political opposition.

On 07.17.1933 the unit was renamed „Landespolizeigruppe zbV. Wecke„, and thus was created the first country-wide „Landespolizeigruppe“ in Germany. On 17.09.1933 the „Gruppe“ was endowed by Hermann Göring with its own Standard, along with the words: „It is my intention to convert the Prussian police into a powerful weapon, similar to the Reichswehr, which I will hand over to the Führer, whenever we will fight our external enemies“.

Member of the L.P.G. General Göring with Police Uniform A

On 22.12.1933 the Gruppe was renamed again, this time as „Landespolizeigruppe General Göring“. Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich-Wilhelm Jacoby, formerly adjutant of Göring in his capacity as Prussian Minister of the Interior and Reich Aviation Minister, took over command of the group on 06.06.1934. After the introduction of conscription on 16.03.1935, the „Polizeigruppe“ received the more military sounding title „Regiment General Göring“ .

In September 1935, Jacoby received from Göring the order to transfer the regiment to the Luftwaffe on the date 01.10.1935. Volunteers of the regiment would form the basis of a battalion of the future German paratroop units. At that time the regiment contained the following units:

In January 1936, one bataillon under Major Bruno Bräuer and the 15th company, moved to the military training grounds at Döberitz, where they received parachute training, while the rest of the regiment moved to Altengrabow to reorganize. On 21.08.1936 Major Walther von Axthelm took command.

Member of the L.P.G. General Göring with Luftwaffen Uniform

Later, during the 2nd World War the Hermann Göring units would be seen as a sort of elite, not only within the Air Force, but also within the entire Wehrmacht. This is partly due to the fact that the personnel, at least in the early years, were all volunteers. There were also high recruitment standards and physical training. However, the Hermann Göring units also offered the best opportunities for advancement. Also playing their part were factors such as accommodation in the new barracks in Reinickendorf, the most modern of all throughout the whole German Reich, to gain national and international recognition by the outwardly visible insignia of the white collar tabs and the cuff title „General Goering“, the possibility of being a bodyguard to Goering, and the comradeship within the regiment all provided enough reasons to wish to serve within this regiment.

At the end of March 1938, the IV. Bataillon and the 15th company left the regiment and formed the I./Fallschirm-Regiment 1. At about the same time, the regiment took part in the annexation of Austria and on 15.03.1938 paraded in front of Hitler. In October 1938, it participated in the invasion of the Sudetenland and on 15.03.1939 took part in the parade in Prague.

Due to the loss of parachute units, the breakdown of the regiment from 01.11.1938 was as follows :

Regimentsstab/Regiment General Göring with Musikkorps and Stabsbatterie

I (schwere) Flak-Abteilung/Regiment General Göring

II (leichte) Flak-Abteilung/Regiment General Göring

III. Scheinwerfer-Abteilung/Regiment General Göring

IV (leichte) Flak-Abteilung/Regiment General Göring

Wach-Bataillon/Regiment General Göring with Reiterzug and three Wach-Kompanien

Luftlande-Bataillon/Regiment General Göring (since Summer 1938 as Ausbildungseinheit, up to August 1939)

In the course of the Polish crisis, the regiment was mobilized on 15.8.1939 which resulted in the following restructuring of the Regiment:

Reiterzug became Reiterschwadron/Regiment General Göring

Formed from:

Reserve-Scheinwerfer-Abteilung/Regiment General Göring

Ersatz-Abteilung//Regiment General Göring

1 (schwere) Eisenbahn-Flak-Batterie

1 (leichte) Flak-Batterie as support unit for the Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe Göring, the Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and as air defence for the Führer Hauptquartier

cuff title General Göring

During the Polish campaign the majority of the regiment remained in the Berlin area to provide anti-aircraft protection and to protect the headquarters of Goering. Amongst other things in October 1939, a company participated in the victory parade in Warsaw.

With the end of the Polish campaign, at the end of October 1st., the III. and IV. Abteilung of the regiment moved in secret to the western front, where they were subordinated to anti-aircraft regiments. Only the II. Abteilung remained in the Berlin area where it would continue to provide part of the air raid protection of greater Berlin.

In early April 1940 a battalion, also known as “Einheit Kluge”, was formed from a Wach-Kompanie, a 2-cm-Flak-Battery (sf) and a newly established Kradschützen-Kompanie of the regiment all under the command of Major Kluge. This unit took part in operation „Weserübung„, the occupation of Denmark and Norway. In Norway, it participated in the fighting between Oslo and Trondheim. The rest of the regiment secured the Rhineland on the Dutch border.

As from 10.05.1940, large parts of the regiment took part in the battles which followed in the West, capturing Brussels. These units were in this case used as „Kampfgruppen“, and the anti-aircraft units achieved very good results in the anti-tank role. After the armistice, the regiment was initially stationed for several weeks on the channel coast and then used for air defense in the Paris area. Towards the end of 1940, the regiment moved back to Germany and was once again part of the air defense of Berlin.

LW Soldier with cuff title General Göring

Before the beginning of the Balkan campaign the regiment moved to Romania, there to protect the major oil fields from enemy air raids. Then it moved in the early summer of 1941 to the River Bug at Sokal and remained there in readiness for the eastern campaign. After the fighting began, it distinguished itself in the fighting around Dubno and Kiev. By October 1941 the regiment had destroyed:

161 Aircraft

324 Tanks

45 Bunkers

167 Artillerie Guns

530 Machine Gun Positions

In the process more than 11,000 prisoners were taken. Up to this point four members of the regiment received the Knight`s cross and four members the german cross in Gold .

At the end of 1941, the regiment moved back to Germany to refresh, while a newly formed „Schützen-Bataillon“ remained in the east and took part in the defensive fighting there until April 1942.
In March 1942, Göring ordered the extension of the regiment to brigade level, and on 15.07.1942 the regiment was renamed as „Brigade Hermann Göring“.

Heinz Besecke who served in the Regiment General Göring and later in the Fallschirmjäger Regiment 1

Description Cuff Title L.P.G. General Göring

The cuffband which consisted of dark green, Police uniform like badge-cloth was 3.2 cm wide and was in executed in “Frakturschrift” as follows:

For Officers the cuff title was hand embroidered in Aluminium thread and featured additional embroidery in the form of a 3mm wide Aluminium thread (Soutache) braid strip on the upper and lower edges of the cuff title.

Although similar in material and colour the version for enlisted ranks was additionally identified by having no edge strip.

Method of Wear:
The cuff title was worn on the “Tuchrock” just above the turned back cuff of the right sleeve. When worn by a soldier holding an appointment to the position of “Hauptfeldwebel” , it was attached just above the sleeve rings indicating this status. Officers also wore the cuff title on the “Fliegerbluse” and the white summer tunic. It is evidenced by numerous photographs however, that the wearing of this cuff title was probably complied with less and less over the course of the war.

I like to thank Mr. Helmut Weitze, Hamburg and his Staff for helping me out with pictures of LPG cuff titles and also lot of collector friends who are all listed in my cuff title book: Göring units and Para units WW2